Drums are the simplest, and most primitive, musical instruments. The drum is a percussive instrument, which produces sound by striking a membrane. The sound is propagated through a membrane, or drumhead, to the drum shell, which is designed to resonate when the membrane is struck. The drumhead is coupled to the drum shell through drum hoops, lugs, and lug or hoop holders. The energy created by striking the drumhead is transferred into a wave in the drum shell, producing the distinctive drum sound, a tuned impulse.
While drums usually cannot play different pitches, they are usually tuned. The drum is tuned by tightening or loosening the drumhead by adjusting the lugs and drum hoops. The tighter the drumhead, the higher the pitch propagated by the drumhead. There are a variety of drums, including, but not limited to a bass or kick drum, snare drums, and tom drums
A snare drum has a top and bottom drumhead. Snare wires are adjustably attached to the exterior of the drum shell, and held in tension against the membrane of the bottom drumhead. Snare beds are a feature of the bottom edge of nearly all snare drums shells. A snare bed is an indentation in the bottom edge of the snare drum shell that creates a curve in the bottom drumhead for the snare wires to curve against. Snare beds are an important part of the sound of the snare drum. They control how responsive and sensitive the snare wires are, and how much the wires buzz or rattle when the drum isn't being played. The snare bed also affects tuning. It can be difficult to get an even tension on the bottom drumhead around the contour of the snare bed.
There are a lot of different designs for the shape of the snare beds, but all are based around a level, straight edge most of the way around the bottom edge of the snare drum shell. Typically, the snare bed is only cut or bent into a small section on either side of the bottom edge of the snare drum shell, where the snare wires cross. Some are wider than others, but all leave a level edge around most of the drum. In other words, the bottom edge of the snare drum shell is a discontinuous curve, because of the cut-out for the snare bed. Current snare beds, although necessary, make it difficult to properly tune snare drums, create unwanted buzzes from the snare wires, and reduce the overall sensitivity of the snare wires.